Mobile devices will account for 50% of all paid-search clicks globally by December 2015, according to a new report from Marin Software.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed company, which provides a revenue acquisition management platform to advertisers and agencies, said British consumers’ love of shopping on smartphones and tablets is transforming paid search, which accounts for a huge chunk of the billions of pounds spent by advertisers online in the UK.

According to its latest report, ‘Mobile Search Advertising Around the Globe’, the share of clicks coming from mobile search ads in the UK almost doubled across 2013, from 24% in January to 43% in December.

UK leads the way

VP and MD EMEA at Marin Software, Jon Myers, said at the current growth rate, Marin Software predicts mobile devices will account for 50% of all paid-search clicks globally by December 2015.

He said the UK already leads the Eurozone, where smartphones and tablets only accounted for 20% of paid search clicks by the end of 2013.

“As advertisers battle for consumer wallet-share, their mobile strategies will need to become even more sophisticated to ensure they are optimising spend effectively in a world where the cost of mobile advertising is rising due to its popularity and effectiveness,” Myers said.

“For the first time, this year search marketers will be able to access audience data as well as contextual data like weather patterns to help them creatively address these challenges.”

Increasing share

During 2013, Marin’s data indicates UK advertisers increased the share of their search advertising budgets spent on mobile and tablets from 22% to 35%.

UK advertisers benefited from click-through rates (CTRs) that were significantly higher for mobile devices, relative to the Eurozone, at 5.71% compared to 3.83%.

However, at an average of 2.79%, smartphone conversion rates currently remain below tablet (4.60%) and desktop (6.09%). And the cost-per-click (CPC) has gone up too, with average CPCs on smartphones rising 26% to £0.19, and tablets growing less slowly (up 11%) to an average of £0.31.

Check out the full report here and the infographic below for more.